Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the ability of au pairs who are EU citizens to continue working in the UK.

EEA and Swiss citizens who were resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 can apply for UK immigration status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), to enable them to continue living and working in the UK after 30 June 2021. Eligibility for the EUSS is not generally concerned with whether the applicant has been engaged in a qualifying activity, such as employment.

Since 1 January 2021, EEA and Swiss citizens newly arriving in the UK and non-EEA citizens are treated equally within the immigration system. As has been the case since 2008, the UK’s points-based immigration system will not offer a dedicated route for au pairs.

Those who have general rights to work in the UK, such as those who arrive under our Youth Mobility Schemes (YMS), would be eligible to undertake such work. We remain committed to operating and expanding our YMS. However, as each YMS is subject to a reciprocal arrangement, we will not add nations to the scheme unilaterally without such an agreement as they are not simply a route for recruiting overseas.